ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Missouri’s two Republican candidates for attorney general put up their dukes for a hard fight at the 2016 Lincoln Days in St. Louis County Saturday, revealing both the underlying differences in their philosophies towards the office and the grudges that have characterized the race for nearly a year.
State Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, and University of Missouri law professor Joshua Hawley debated at a forum held by the Missouri Pachyderms at the Sheraton Chalet in Westport Plaza, and both presented fairly consistent views. Each wants to fight against federal government overreach, adhere to constitutional law and protects states’ rights, all punctuated with sharp jabs at each other.
Hawley cited his work on the Hobby Lobby case that was argued before the Supreme Court which allowed that for-profit corporations could be exempt from a law based on their religious beliefs (if there was a less restrictive means of furthering the law’s interest). The Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, had mandated birth control be a part of the insurance packages employers provided, but that was overturned in the Hobby Lobby case.
“It is to this day the only victory against Obamacare that is on the books,” Hawley said. “I’ll never forget the solicitor general standing up in the Supreme Court and saying if you choose to start a business in this country, you give up your right to religious liberty.”
Schaefer hit back that Hawley’s work on the case had been in a minor role.
“In all fairness to Josh, I’ve never stood up in front of the Supreme Court and argued a case in the Supreme Court, and neither has Josh,” he said, hinting that Hawley had never actually argued in the nation’s highest court.
Schaefer stated that he was a hardened prosecutor, as opposed to Hawley’s more constitutional and theoretical approach to law to buoy his own arguments, noting that he had put criminals on death row and had practiced law for 20 years. He also cited his legislative achievements like his work on the Senate Sanctity of Life Committee, his win on Amendment 5, and a recent piece of legislation focused on religious liberties in response to the Obergefell Supreme Court decision that validated same-sex marriages as legal unions.
Then, it was Hawley’s turn to strike.
“I welcome Sen. Schaefer’s recent entrance into the religious liberty movement,” Hawley said. He went on to say that Schaefer was the only Republican in the Senate who had voted against a religious liberty bill the same time he argued the case.
The two also feuded over Sunshine Law requests that supporters of each campaign filed, requesting the others of their state email accounts. Schaefer contended that he had complied with Hawley’s request, but Hawley had not delivered any records yet. Hawley said he had and then attacked Schaefer again, saying if Schaefer wanted more emails, he could “ask the University of Missouri. I understand you have a good relationship with some of their administrators.”
The last line was a direct shot at the allegation that Schaefer had asked former system president Tim Wolfe to revoke Hawley’s unpaid leave of absence he took to run for attorney general.
In the end, Schaefer made sure to say that prosecutors won the attorney general’s seat.
“[Republicans] haven’t had the attorney general’s office for 24 years,” Schaefer said, citing the two failed candidates by the GOP who could not beat current occupant Chris Koster. “Missourians are not going to elect someone who is not a prosecutor. It’s that experience that makes the difference.”
